Restraining device



July 11, 1961 c. s. TERRELL RESTRAINING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 28, 1958 m WM INVENTOI Charm 6. Terra 4W u l vijv Q Wm Vb m United States; Patent 2,991,785 *RESTRAINING DEVICE Charm G. Terrell, 8730 54th St. N., St. Petersburg, Fla. Filed Mar. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 724,768 Claims. (Cl. 128-134) This invention relates to a restraining device'for institutionalized patients, and it particularly relates to a restraining device which is an'improvement in certain respects of the restraining device disclosed in application Serial Number 667,002, filed June 20', 1957, now Patent No. 2,848,993 of which this present application forms a continuation-in-part.

Although the restraining device described in the abovementioned application is generally very effective in affording maximum freedom of movement to the patient while keeping him completelyrestrained to the bed so that his used to great advantage for both physically and mentally ill patients, it has been found necessary to modify the device so that it could be secured equally as well to any type of hospital bed. In addition, a locking device has been found to be necessary to keep the patient from removing the restraining device while, at the same'time, permitting maximum freedom of arms and legs.

It is, therefore, one-object of the present invention to provide an improved restraining device which enables-the patients limbs to have maximum freedom of movement while still holding the patient securely in locked restraint.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a restraining device which may be effectively secured and locked to all types of hospitalbeds.

Another object of the present invention is to simplify the construction of the restraining device 'while yet-maintaining its effectiveness.

Other objectsof the present invention are to provide an improved restrainingdevice, of th'echaracter described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly efficient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a device embodying the present invention, the device being shown in spreadout position.

FIG. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a portion of the device of FIG. 1, showing one end thereof secured to a bed and locked in position.

FIG. 4 is a view of the body halter strap assembly, with the straps in spread-out position and removed from the remainder of the device.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the connecting tab for securing the ends of the rear body-belt to each other by means of buckles.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the rear body-belt.

FIG. 7 is a view taken on line 77 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a modified form of slide belt and front body belt which is shown partly connected to the slide belt.

FIG. 9 is a view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a View taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 8.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, there is shown a restraining device, generally designated 10, comprising a main belt 12 having a support strap 14 secured by a loop 15 to each end portion thereof. Rivets 16 fasten both the straps 14 and the loop 15 to the belt 12. A wristloop belt 17 having a buckle 18 is positioned on the support strap 14 and within the loop formed by belt 17 is a wrist protector pad 19. The free end of the strap 14 is Patented J uly; 1 1, 1 96 1 provided with an extension 20 which is provided vw'th-an adjustment buckle 22 as well as with a longitudinally extending series of eyelets 24.

An extension tab 26 is provided at each end of the belt as indicated at 30 and 32. These straps 30 and 31 extend in spaced parallel relation to strap 20 (as best shown in FIG. 1), extending somewhat beyond the end of strap'20. The straps 30 and 32 are also provided with a longitudinal series of eyelets as at 34 and 36 respectively. The straps 30 and 32 are provided with inner extensions on the oppositeside of thecross-strap 28 and on each of these inner extensions is positioned a buckle as indicated at 38'and'40 respectively.

In use, the patients wrists'are engaged within theloops formed by straps 17, the straps 30 and 32 are then brought down and around the side bars 42, and under the mattress 44 of the bed, and are then passed through their respective buckles 38 and 40. Thereafter, the ends of the straps 30 and 32 are crossed under the strap extension-20 and alock 46 is engaged through mating eyelets 24, 34-and 36-and snapped shut to lockthe entire-assembly to the bed (as best shown in FIG. 3).

At its center, the belt 12 is provided with a loop 48; Through this loop 48extends aslide'belt 52=which is-connected to a shoulder harness assembly generally'designated 50 which will'be described in greater detailhereafter. The slide belt 52 is provided witha-loop 54 -at each end thereof while, at its center, the slide belt 52.is provided with a tab 56 through which are "passed rivets connecting the tab 56 to the slide belt 52. The-tab 56: is provided at opposite-endswithloops 62 (best-seen in FIG. 2.) to which are; attached buckles 564/ These buckles :64 are adapted to connect the ends of a rear body belt generally designated 66 to the slide belt 52; this rear body belt 66 comprising an outer strap 68 provided with an inner liner 70. The strap 68 is connected adjacent one end to the liner 70 by stitching 72 and adjacent the other end by a loop 74. The ends of the liner pass under the loops 54 by which the belt 66 is connected to the slide belt 52 (as shown in FIG. 2), while the ends of the strap 68 are provided, at one end with eyelets 76 and at the other end with a series of eyelets 78 (see FIG. 6), so that after the ends are inserted through the buckles 64, a lock 80 can be inserted through mating eyelets of each end (as shown in FIG. 2). A front body belt 82 is connected between the loops 54 (as shown in FIG. 2)

Attached to the rear body belt 66 is a shoulder harness comprising two straps 84 and 86 (see FIGS. 1 and 4), strap 86 being longer than strap 84 and having an inclined, offset portion 88. The strap 84 also has a shorter, inclined offset portion 90 which is connected to portion 88 by a rivet 92 inwardly of the end of portion 88. A straight strap 94 extends between the straps 84 and 86 and is connected thereto by rivets 96. Each of the strap portions 88 and 90 is provided with a loop, as at 89 and 91 respectively; these loops being formed by unstitched portions.

The ends of straps 84 and 86 are provided with loops shown respectively at 98 and 100 while the opposite end of strap portion 88 is also provided with a loop 102. The belt 66 passes through these loops 98, 100 and 102 (as best shown in FIG. 2) so that the straps 84 and 86 are bent over at their line of intersection with portions 88 and 90 to form the shoulder-straps of the harness illustrated in FIG. 1. These shoulder-straps are adapted to be passed over the shoulders of the patient in such manner that the strap 94 fits across his chest, thereby holding him securely. t

Instead of the slide-belt 52 and front belt 82 shown in FIG. 2, which requires the use of buckles and may be somewhat overly bulky for certain purposes, a modified arrangement may be used such as illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. In this arrangement there is provided a'slide belt 104 having loops at each end formed by tabs 106 which are bent over. These loops are equivalent to the loops 54 of FIG. 2. Stitched to the slide belt 104, at the rear of the loops formed by tabs 106, is a front body belt 108. The rear body belt 66 passes through the loops formed by tabs 106 in similar manner to the way it passes through loops 54. However, instead of the ends of the rear body belt 66 being buckled and then locked in place, they are connected at all times to the tab 110 on the front of slide belt 104 as by a rivet or the like. Although this arrangement does not have the adjustable features of the arrangement shown in FIG. 2, it is often more desirable because of its simplicity and lack of necessity for troublesome adjustments while putting the harness on a patient.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed:

1. A restraining device comprising a main belt, an adjustable support strap at each end of the main belt, an adjustable wrist-loop forming strap on each support strap, an extension on each support strap, a cross-strap at each end of the main belt, a pair of securement straps on each cross-strap, a buckle on each securement strap whereby said securement straps may be passed around the side frame of a bed and buckled tightly thereto, and corresponding openings in each support strap extension and in each securement strap whereby, when the support strap extension and the corresponding securement straps on each end of the main belt are overlapped after the securement straps have been buckled closed around the side frame, a lock may be passed through mating openings and locked therein, said main belt being provided at substantially its mid-point with a loop through which slidably passes a body-belt assembly adapted to engage around a patients waist. V

2. The restraining device of claim 1 wherein said bodybelt assembly comprises a slide belt slidable through said loop on the main belt, a loop on each end of said slide belt, a front body-belt portion having its ends secured to the loops on said slide belt, and a rear body-belt portion slidable through the loops on said slide belt and having its ends secured to said slide belt.

3. The restraining device of claim 2 wherein a shoulder harness is releasably secured to said body-belt.

4. The restraining device of claim 1 wherein said body-belt assembly comprises a slide belt slidable through the loop on said main belt, a front body-belt portion secured to said slide belt, a rear body-belt portion adjustably slidable relative to said slide belt, a tab on said slide belt, and buckles on said tab, the ends of said rear body-belt being engageable through said buckles and having corresponding openings adapted to mate with each other when said ends of said rear body-belt are overlapped after passing through their corresponding buckles, said mating openings being engageable by a locking element.

5. The restraining device of claim 1 wherein said bodybelt assembly comprises a slide belt slidable through the loop on said main belt, a front body-belt portion secured to said slide belt, a rear body-belt portion, a tab on said slide belt, and the ends of said rear body-belt portion being rigidly connected to said tab.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,991,633 Serpico Feb. 19, 1935 2,175,571 Rose et al. Oct. 10, 1939 2,308,466 Johnson Jan. 12, 1943 2,827,898 Thompson Mar. 25, 1958 

